A one all draw through regulation flew by overtime setting up a crucial shootout. It was there that Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg took charge of scoring in the eighth round of a shootout to beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 at Scottrade Center Thursday night. The win increased Detroit’s winning streak to six games with Petr Mrazek making a terrific performance with 31 saves.
Detroit took their five game winning streak to St. Louis hoping to keep all the good moments alive. Dylan Larkin scored two in the Red Wings win over Carolina on Tuesday. With the 20-year-old getting some goals under his belt this season, the sophomore would have to do more on the night. Justin Abdelkader returned to the lineup after a two game absence but came to the reality of not having Tomas Vanek.
The Austrian was ruled out of competition due to a lower body injury. Vanek was on a tear since the start of the season scoring four goals and four assists in seven games. While he sat out, it clearly gave the rest of the squad hope that they could also match the skills of their injured teammate.
The Blues got a head start on shots to the net where Mrazek was in place for Detroit playing in his 100th NHL game. He dealt with them easily as things were slowly heating up. The Red Wings found some scoring opportunities going after goaltender Jake Allen before they gained a power play. The Blues killed off the two-minute penalty and nearly took the lead with an increase of offense to the Detroit end. They were outshooting the Red Wings deep into the period taking a 6-2 run.
The final six minutes saw further progress for St. Louis who took control of things taking a significant lead on Detroit. They outshot the Red Wings 14-4 that left the Detroit squad to do much better going into the second stanza.
St. Louis didn’t give them any room for maneuver taking the puck away from them to attack the Detroit end. When shots at close range didn’t work, the Blues went to a different strategy putting their defenseman to work. It was the talent of Kevin Shattenkirk that helped get his team on the board sniping a shot that went into the net for his third of the season. Their shots increased as fast as the time fell off the clock working completely against the Red Wings. A lack of faceoff wins and giveaways were also a major factor to the team’s struggles losing the puck six times.
Detroit took three shots in 14 minutes while holding the Blues to just five in that amount of time. St. Louis was on their third power play hoping to increase their lead. What they didn’t expect was a move from Detroit that leveled the playing field. Alexey Marchenko and Darren Helm worked out a turnover while shorthanded that set up Frans Nielsen for a scoring chance. The veteran forward found a small window of opportunity on Allen’s glove side scoring his second of the season.
The last minutes were a big turnaround for Detroit who found their groove to climb back and be a competitive team making the third period an important moment for both teams. St. Louis remained out front on the Red Wings but were outshot in the period 11-9.
The third saw the Red Wings gaining an edge on the Blues on shots on goal but getting the lead proved difficult going further into the period. St. Louis gained opportunities to go after Mrazek but he continued to be great for Detroit as he tried to give his team the chance to get out front first. Time surpassed the players on ice when they suddenly found themselves with just four minutes left on the clock. Detroit got chances near the Blues net but their faceoff wins were still a problem that left little chance of getting the go ahead. The final minute had St. Louis with possession as they kept the puck away from the Red Wings moving things to overtime.
It was the first time this season that Detroit went to 3 on 3 hockey and their recent history against the Blues left them favorable to win. It proved difficult from the start as the Blues found ways of turning over the puck getting 2 on 1’s and 3 on 1’s against Mrazek. Though they didn’t score one on him, the same was said for Detroit who couldn’t find a way to break Allen. The final minute didn’t help either team as they were both at a stalemate setting up a pivotal shootout.
Alexander Steen got the Blues on the board in the first frame while Allen took care of stopping Nielsen. They gained a second chance with Gustav Nyquist putting Detroit even with a slow crawl to the net before sniping a shot top shelf. The stop that Mrazek put on Kevin Shattenkirk allowed Larkin to go up on Allen but still found himself unable to score a shootout goal in his career.
The saves were racking up for the two net minders that led the teams to further action on ice. Seven rounds went into the books with the score tied at one shot apiece. After a miss from the Blues in the eighth, the Red Wings captain came up for his team and did enough to bring the win and keep the streak alive. “I just tried to get a five whole and it worked,” Zetterberg said to Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson.
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